


Where Only The Moon Can See

by ilsafausts (phoenix_cry)



Category: Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Fun, Pre-Relationship, Romance, Without much Plot, ilsa and ethan are in love and kinda clueless about it, just some silly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 18:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16143281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_cry/pseuds/ilsafausts
Summary: Ethan convinces Ilsa to go on a nightly adventure with him to escape the summer heat.





	Where Only The Moon Can See

**Author's Note:**

> My muse has been kind of absent this past week, so this little thing is all I could manage. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. :)
> 
> P.S.: If you wanna hit me with some more prompts, feel free to do so!

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Ilsa muttered as she followed behind Ethan down a narrow dirt path, the only illumination provided by the moon above. 

“Don’t tell me you’re not the tiniest bit tempted,” Ethan said, pausing for a few seconds to allow her to pass by a branch he was holding out of her way. “Besides, it’s not like anybody will see anything.” He turned back around and continued on his way, and Ilsa huffed at his back, fishing a cobweb out of her hair. 

“And it’ll be refreshing!” Ethan called back over his shoulder. As if on cue, sweat rolled down her back, the heat of this Italian summer evening feeling oppressive, so Ilsa had to admit that anything involving the word ‘refreshing’ sounded pretty damn good. 

“You don’t need to convince me again - I’m here, aren’t I?” Ilsa sighed. To herself, she thought that she could never really say no to him anyway, so it wasn’t like he had to work very hard to convince her to join him on this nightly venture.

Ahead of her, Ethan chuckled. “I’m honestly impressed I didn’t end up having to drag you the rest of the way.” 

“You can try.”

“I’m not particularly fond of any broken bones at the moment, thank you.”

Ilsa’s lips twitched. “That’s what I thought.”

Ethan chuckled again and they continued the rest of the way in silence. 

A few minutes later, the path opened up into a clearing, a small beach sloping down and merging with a lake surrounded on all sites by trees and foliage - perfectly private and perfectly suitable for Ethan’s plans. A cloudless sky, scattered with countless sparkling stars and the silver light of the moon, gave the whole scene a magical feeling. Ilsa sighed again, this time in happiness. 

“I told you it wouldn’t disappoint.” Ethan murmured from beside her, apparently having stopped to await her reaction. Ilsa glanced at him and inclined her head. “Yes, you did,” she admitted, another smile once again tugging on her lips. This time, she didn’t try to fight it. 

Ethan didn’t hesitate to smile right back at her, bright and happy. 

“Let’s go!” He exclaimed, and a second later, he was on his way down the sandy slopes to the edge of the water. Ilsa laughed as he threw a smug smirk back at her over his shoulder, a moment before his head vanished inside his t-shirt he was in the process of tugging over his head. 

Shaking her head at his antics, she followed after him at a slightly more sedate pace, dropping her towel in the sand beside his own towel and the freshly fallen t-shirt. 

“What are you waiting for?” Ethan asked, and she had to laugh again at how impatient and excited he sounded. He reached for his belt buckle, an expectant eyebrow raised at her, as he went to undo it. 

Ilsa rolled her eyes and sighed again. “Fine.” 

Ethan grinned. 

Her hands reached to tug her own shirt over her head. Dropping it onto the steadily growing heap of clothes by their feet, just as Ethan stepped out of his pants, leaving him standing before her in his boxers. 

Not to be outdone, Ilsa kicked off her shoes and then opened the button on her jeans, shimmying out of them.

Straightening back up, she saw his gaze fixed on her. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he shook himself from his trance. 

His grin widened even further. “Are we gonna do this, then? Or are you gonna chicken out?”

Her eyes narrowed at his taunt. “I never chicken out, Mister.” As if to prove him wrong, she then proceeded to undo her bra, letting it drop into the pile of clothes. Her panties followed a moment later. 

Ethan gulped. Averting his eyes to a fixed spot over her shoulder, his grin faltered slightly. 

“Well?” she asked, propping her hands on her hips. 

“Right. Yes.” Ethan swallowed, still not daring to look directly at her. “I’ll just…” Taking a last long breath, he gave his boxers a push, letting them slide over his hips and down his legs. Stepping out of them, he finally met her eyes. 

Ilsa smirked and made her way the rest of the way towards the water, walking backwards and never once breaking their eye contact. Her feet hit the water, and she bit her lips as the cool water washed over her heated skin. 

“All of a sudden, you don’t look so cocky anymore. Are you sure, you won’t chicken out?” She said, stepping further back into the lake. 

“Just watch me,” he answered, and in a mad dash, he headed straight for her. Her eyes widened in surprise as he caught her around the waist and propelled both of them the rest of the way into the water.

They hit the surface with a splash and she squeaked as her body got enveloped by the water. Beside her, she heard Ethan laugh and she blindly splashed some water in his direction. He sputtered. 

Wiping her now wet hair out of her face, she blinked the water out of her eyes and turned to face her mischievously grinning partner. 

“This is refreshing, right?” He asked and Ilsa rolled her eyes again. 

“Yes, Ethan, very refreshing,” she said, drolly. “I’m sure the others will be sad they missed the opportunity to go skinny dipping in a lake with us.”

“Their own fault they fell asleep within minutes, even with this oppressive heat.” He shrugged, not sounding sorry at all. 

Ilsa groaned, just thinking about their meltingly hot safe house back in the city. Open windows didn’t offer any relief, because there was no wind to move the air at all, and air conditioning was just a fantasy at this point. 

While Luther, Benji, and Brandt had crawled into their beds and began snoring moments later, Ilsa and Ethan had kept tossing and turning in their own beds, the climate robbing them of any sleep.   
That’s when Ethan had gotten out of bed and in a hushed discussion convinced her to come with him. Apparently, he knew the perfect spot to cool down. 

They had taken Ilsa’s bike to the edge of the city and then traveled the rest of the way to the lake on foot. 

Right now, floating in pleasantly cool water, Ilsa had to admit the idea hadn’t been too lousy. 

“How did you even find this place?” Ilsa asked, swimming closer to him. Reflexively, he reached out and pulled her against his body. Ilsa’s breath stuttered slightly in her chest and she hoped he didn’t notice. She wasn’t sure what the exact specifics of their relationship entailed, she just knew that they had always found it easy to touch each other, reassuringly, platonically, from the very start. In recent weeks, ever since she had become an official part of the team, she found that their touches had had a tendency to linger. Sometimes, they evolved into outright caresses. They hadn’t spoken of it yet, but the more time passed, the more Ilsa wanted to know what he wanted from her. Especially in a moment like this, where he had convinced her to go skinny dipping in the most romantic location, she had seen in quite some time, and their naked bodies were sliding against each other under the water. 

“I’ve been here once, years ago. Another mission.” His voice drew her out of her reverie. “I had been in pursuit of a mark, and he led me here. We fought, I subdued him and brought him in. The end.”

“I’m pretty sure there was more to it, but alright,” she teased, knowing it was never this easy. “I’m just glad you remembered this place.”

“Me too,” he murmured, smiling at her. The arm around her waist pulled her closer against him, and she bit the inside of her lip as her breasts brushed against his chest. Her arms rose from the water to settle around his neck. His green eyes almost seemed silver in the moonlight and she got lost in them for a moment until she saw them flick down to her lips. She swallowed. 

“Ethan,” she whispered, voice raspy. His eyes darkened in response to her voice. “What are we doing?” 

He sighed and then chuckled. “I was hoping you knew.”

She huffed a laugh, her breath whispering against his lips. “Honestly, I have no idea. I just know that I don’t want it to stop.”

“Me neither,” he admitted, and, as one, they closed the last tiny gap between their lips. As if possessed by a magnetic force, their lips met and merged. Sliding against each other with soft caresses, they learned the taste and preferences of the other, biting, sucking, licking at each other’s lips until they were breathless.

They parted with a gasp and leaned their foreheads against each other, catching their breath. 

“Now, I’m certainly glad you convinced me to come with you,” she breathed, a smile spreading across her lips. An answering smile settled on his own lips and his fingers reached up to caress her temple gently. 

“Me too.”

They spent several more long minutes just kissing languorously, until goosebumps set in, their bodies cooling, even in the heated air around and between them. 

“Let’s take this to the shore,” Ethan suggested, feeling the goosebumps on her back. Ilsa nodded and they disentangled and swam back to shore. 

Ilsa spread out their towels on the sand and they settled down, arms around each other as the warm air dried their skin.   
His fingers danced across her back in random figures and she breathed deeply against his neck. 

“This is nice,” she whispered, her own fingers tracing across his collarbone. 

“Yes, it is. Thank you for coming with me.”

“Thank you for convincing me.”

“Anytime,” he chuckled. 

Ilsa settled her head more comfortably against his shoulder and closed her eyes, just enjoying his gentle caresses and nearness. 

Her eyes opened again to the sounds of birds chirping in the trees and bushes behind them and the first rays of the sun tickling at her cheeks.   
Blinking against the unexpected light, Ilsa rubbed at her eyes and yawned. 

A second later, the situation registered fully in her brain and she sat up with a start.   
Beneath her, Ethan groaned at the sudden movement. “What is it?” He asked, his own yawn breaking free. 

“It’s morning, Ethan,” she stated, already sifting through the pile of cloth beside her, searching for her clothes. “We fell asleep!”

His hand settled on her back soothingly. “It’s okay, it’s still early.”

“They’ll wonder where we went.”

“So let them wonder. We’ll be back there within the hour.” He sat up and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Unless you wanna stop for breakfast on the way.”

She threw him a look over her shoulder, annoyed until she saw the happiness in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, her annoyance vanished at once. Reaching over to cup his cheek in her palm, she kissed his lips gently. “Good morning.”

His eyes fluttered shut at her caress and he shifted closer to deepen the kiss for a moment. “Good morning,” he answered softly. 

“Breakfast does sound good,” she admitted and he grinned. 

“I know the perfect place.”

Ilsa laughed. “Of course you do.”

*

One and a half hours later, at eight on the dot, they opened the door to their safe house, the scent of fresh bread accompanying them through the door. 

“There you are!” Benji greeted them. “Where have you been?”

Ilsa and Ethan shared a look. “Out,” Ethan said and added, “we brought breakfast.”

“Ooh, perfect, I’m starving!” Benji said, his mind already moving on to more important topics, namely food. 

At the kitchen table, cradling a steaming cup of coffee each, Luther and Brandt shared a look of their own, a knowing grin tugging at their lips. 

“Looks like you had a long night,” Brandt said, grinning into his coffee. 

“Not all of us can fall asleep within seconds in this heat,” Ilsa grumbled, dropping the bread onto the table between them. 

“So what were you up to while you couldn’t sleep?” Luther asked, sounding way too curious. 

Ilsa smiled at him, and said in an obviously fake cheery tone, “None of your business.”

“Oh, must have been interesting,” Brandt said through a smirk. 

“It was,” Ethan agreed conversationally. “And you’ll never know.” He poured a cup of coffee and handed it over to Ilsa, before pouring another for himself. “Any news from headquarters yet?” He asked, turning around to lean against the kitchen counter. 

Benji shook his head, already munching on his first slice of bread. “Not yet,” he mumbled, swallowing his mouthful. 

They sat and ate breakfast in silence for a while until Brandt suddenly turned to Ethan and Ilsa and asked, “Is that sand in your clothes?”

They both choked on their coffee, as the other three laughed. 

-fin


End file.
